The Dillon tribune., 1887-04-29

turned about and sat down on the h,n,,-
ol WOOL the movement upset their calcu-
latlons and made them timid for the mo.
ment. Under certain circumstances amy
Wllu beast loses heart. A move which il
surprise and not clearly understood will
make ours OF them 1T once, and u second
move VIII put them to igno1ninious flight,
Nhcli ! got sight of the beasts the
lion had haif turned. cs if to sneak
away. while the tiger was crouchcd
as,ailm, the wall, and appeared shnmc
faced. Had risen up and swung nv hat
ana yelled 10th would have bolted. Int
must confess that, taking my main ana
the general situation into account, was
badly ratified. I couldn't think Just what
ought to be done, and therefore lid moth
ing. This: after Il noment, encouraged
the beasts, and then came such 4 situation
as few mcn were ever placed in. | had
opportunity To see here !: lion end u tiger
approach Il victim, waiting to he struck
down. have wondered thousand
times what could have come over me to sit
there with my gun within reach and nv
revolver in its holster and make not the
slightest move to save my life while those
fierce brutes crept nearer and nearer i
think the poison benumbel and stupefied
lnc to certain extent. That il, while
my brain was never more active and my
eyesight keen, felt helpless to move, and
my mouth was as dry as il had a fever.
knew my peril us fully as any one could,
but when ] thought OF grasping my rifle
and sighting il the cxertion required dis
couragetl me.
The lion WAS the boltler Of the two.
After making up his mind that l could
not harm him, he held his head we'll up,
swung his tail about, and advanced aI
u SLOW pace. l was under cover, aud
he might have suspected II trap. But for
this hc would probably have made u rush.
The tiger displayed exactly the same
characteristics aS II cat creeping upon her
prey. Hc crcpl, crawletl, twisted about.
and sought to slelter~his body behind the
alightest tuft OF grass. He did not how
ever, take his eyes off Tie for the tenth Of
Il second, and the nearer he came the
more his great lips parted to show his
yellow teeth. He was rs supple as Il
snake, and nothing could hc more grace
tnl than his movements. could sec his
tremendous muscles u,iver az he moved,
and l remember Of thinking what power
he must have in his legs. 1t WAS all Of ten
minutes before thc beasts approached the
point where they realized each others
presence. You would have thought, with
only " wall separating tl'cn, that they
must have heard Or scented each utler
The fact that they did not was probably
| owing to the cxcitclr~ nj under which
they laborcd.
by and by the lion was almost 1T the
! end OF the wall: and near enough for his
spring. He crouchetl down. switched his
| tail in II lnenacing way, and plainly saw
his talons dig into the earth as he gathered
his muscles for II great effort. While
there was Il settled determination on his
part to make food Of me. there was Il
certain trrpda!ion in his general Gc-
! 1neanor. II was plain that he w,,s mysti-
fled. but his ferocious nature prevailed.
| The tiger kept abreast of the lion. and
| he was the first to take the alarm. He
evidently scented the lion, for he rc,lreii
up, snuf1cd the air, and then flung out u
paw and Spat like an angry cat. This
noise startled the lion, and he rose up,
| showed his teeth and took his eyes off NE
| for the first time. Either animal could
| easily have lcapetl the wall. hut neither
! attempted it. The tiger took on Il ficrcer
| look and dropped some OF his stealth. but
! the lion reached the end OF the WAll first,
| llttcring Il roar Of defiance and evidently
expecting to mcc! an enemy The tiger
was four or five feet from the end Of tho
wall, and the move he made was SO quick
| that my eyes could not follow il. As the
lion's head showed around the wall til,
big cat made II lightning spring. and the
next instant The two We're rolling over
and over Mt my feet, fighting us only such
beasts can fight, and growing il Il man.
ner to make my hair turn gray. II was
! then that strength came back to me. and
I rose up, but instead OF rushing away
ran back into the building. Reaching Tho
/ ,,,.x,,
spectator. The first cinch lasted alnu,
! three minutes. and was characterized
| by such fcrocity us cannot de-
| scribe. While the lion unl the ,iycl
are probably natural enemies. | suppose
the fact that both had planned to make
meat of me, and both felt themselves dis
appointed. aroused all their ferocity. Most
| Of the time during the frs, clinch they
were rolling over and over like Il big ball
tearing, biting and growing. and Tho
movements Of the tiger were much
quickest They finally separated, Il
backed of few feet and each stood b I'd
| side to me- could see half II dozen oot
stains on the lions side while the gel
had been terribly bitten about the ,.cck
! and there was Il bloody scratch IN his
quarter. They tuced each other for al,ou
Il min1,te. the lion roaring in II deep ba
and the tiger snarlnc like am cnrag.l cat
! Then as swift rs /. flash of lightning, thu
tiger bounded through space ami alighte'
on the lions back, anti again they rollet
and tunblcd about. The ilGh, was 10.
fierce to he kept up long, and too dieter
mined not to result in severe injuries.
When the le;sts finally struggled Il
their feet the i.:tr had hold rf the lin'
lust back of the fore shoulder. and IL
hung there and wcrrit'! HE King ::> II do:
,voull q sheen Twice th. lion NNlptN Oll